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Talk:Kill n Tell/@comment-3041875-20170618223225
The Good – Overall, I enjoyed all the stories throughout, there were some excellent moments, and I was more engrossed throughout than I was last episode. Jo said that the last scene of the episode was her favourite of the series, and I may just agree with that. There were so many characters interacting, brilliant pieces of dialogue, a lot of humour and it was all so cleverly building to the reveal of Eli's head being served as dinner. I can't possibly give that scene justice in this review, but I will try to give mention to some highlights. I re-read the scene in its entirety, because there was lots of mention to where Eli was and subtle hints like Rena commenting that the dinner-dish was heavy, and it was all very cleverly crafted. There were so many highlights, like Silvia and her partner trying to make small talk with Joe and Joanna, and then Silvia telling Kathryn she remembered her name correctly, but it's the wrong name 'cause she was crazy then. You managed to make so many characters shine in such a small amount of time, and I really enjoyed Rena's focus (still being offended from the fight earlier), Liz's snide remarks about Eli, Val's appearance, Juanita's lines, and Ben mentioning she was his favourite servant (as a nod to me). I also loved Aliza asking Jason what party he was at when he commented things were going well, and Joe continuing to question Kathryn over Troy O'Neil was a clever reminder of that story. You managed to make the whole scene's dialogue flow very naturally, including so many characters, even with some meeting for the first time, and there were so many brilliant lines, interactions and character moments, that I just can't mention them all, but this was an excellently done scene. The reactions to Eli's death were also very fitting with the theme of the series, with Liz giving a line in similar tone to the line given when Jose's body was discovered, and I'm very curious to see how this fits-in with the season's main story. While the story of friends burying a body and a secret has been done already, it was good to see how the stress continued to impact on all the characters, and I enjoyed the teaser overall. The line, "As my dear boy Manny woulda dun said... well, he never said anything that memorable, but he woulda luh'd seein' dat", was just brilliant. The mystery around Troy O'Neil actually came out pretty naturally though Joe's dialogue with Killian, even if it was a pretty random detail, and I enjoyed his sleuthing throughout the episode. I liked the continuation of Rena's story from last episode as he searches for stories for his screenplay, and I enjoyed the nods to our previous pieces of fanfiction. Him not cleaning after burying a body and then spooking Mary while eating a microwaveable burrito were all also perfectly in character. It made sense for him to find inspiration from Joe's stories and it was good to see clearly how the burial has affected all the butlers the day after, such as by mention of Rochelle by Silvia. Rena continues to be amusing by just being so terrible at his job, and I think that's something that should get more focus than it does. The scene of Rena and Mary getting permission from Joe for the story was a good scene, with some humour like Mary telling Joe they'll need it all in writing, and I liked how Rena was insulted by them not thinking he could play the lead. There were some good moments within Ben's story, even though he didn’t get as much focus in his own story as other characters. I enjoyed Ali confiding in him some and watching how he dealt with the stress of burying Rochelle. Liz thinking Val was just fat, and not pregnant, was pretty funny, as was her asking if Cassie knew how to use a broom and Ben almost choking, but hiding it to not draw further attention. Cassie calling Ben by Mister was cute, and his reactions to Aliza's arrival and Liz's worries over Rochelle (even stating she may have fallen and broken her neck) were all very good, and I'm curious to see how him leaving his job at Ali's develops, albeit a little sad over how he can't confide in Ali. Joanna's excessive drinking has always been pretty cartoonish and so her appointment at the doctor's was fittingly over-the-top, as he exclaims she has wine pumping through her veins instead of blood. Joanna later awkwardly laughing at Joe's joke about leaving Silvia's party if the wine sucks was a clever and subtle way to show how this is still at the back of her mind. Joanna convincing Joe to visit his mother's party was a nice moment, and I assume she's motivated both by the trauma of how she lost her own parents and the realisation that she may never be a mother herself. Josh being arrested for punching the repo-men was a fine way of showing how the stress is all becoming too much for him to handle. The appearance of his mother should make for an interesting story, and it's easy to empathise with his anger over her. Val recording the fight between Liz and Kathryn and Eli was a nice detail (one that will clearly later come to be of importance), and a good scene (even if a little odd to end the second act with, I thought). Clearly, Liz will look very suspicious as she was also absent during some of the dinner, but it's too obvious for it to have been her that killed Eli and I look forward to her having to fight against people who will probably think she did it. Neutral Observations – At the beginning of Rena's story, I thought it was going to end with him writing Devious Maids. I'm a little confused by Josh's delusions – one moment he seems in morning and then the next he seems to think Brad's still alive. I understand that the wheelchair story is an illusion he's made-up to deal with the pain, but at times it appeared like he was consciously aware of this, when he should be completely in belief of the story he's fabricated. But I maybe misunderstood some bits. Also, not sure what Josh was charged with after hitting the repo-man, as the fact he was bailed suggests there will be a plea still to come over the charge, but I also got the impression that the story was just over. The Bad - Not sure what we were supposed to make from Marvin commenting that he wouldn’t be talking to the help in Ali's situation, especially since he then instructs Cassie to thank Ben. Either way, whether it was meant to show he was a dick or it was a pitiful attempt to compliment Ali, it was pretty strange, I thought. I'll admit, there were also a lot of unnecessary words, some missing words and over-explanations in this scene, that all meant I had to read a lot of sentences twice to understand them. I'm only commenting on this because the writing is usually much tighter by you both. Speaking of Marvin, I still wasn’t sure the mystery around him was working throughout the episode. The idea of Ali wanting to protect Cassie from him is potentially interesting, but it's hard to really care without knowing what Ali wants to protect the girl from. Her explanation to Ben that she wants to be honest but needs to sort things for herself first came across pretty half-assed, to be honest, like you wanted to have it both ways with her confiding in Ben but also not revealing anything important over the mystery. Though, I am glad to see her confiding in Ben again and see clearly the strong friendship they have, like in season one. It also didn’t seem to make a lot of sense that Ali would be angry enough to throw her father out now but fine enough to house him for a week, and that her father would know he did wrong enough to not fight back when Ali tells him to leave Cassie, but thought things would be fine between him and Ali if he just visited. I understand that it was maybe mention of the church explosion which made Josh lose it in the café with his mother, but it was a little extreme, considering he had agreed to have tea with her. It had seemed they were making progress, but then he let out so much anger that it just made me wonder why he had agreed to meet her for tea in the first place. I have to admit, I didn’t love the justification in the teaser for burying Rochelle. Surely, there would be evidence of kidnap and that Rochelle was binding Joe, so blaming the police's idiocy as a reason not to come clean felt a bit like an easy way out. I just don’t really see the necessity of having this story, to be honest, as it's not the main story of the season, so it doesn’t feel like the season needs it and it also didn't seem like it would have been the obvious solution for Joe and the butlers. I am, however, prepared to be proven wrong and hope there's some good consequence from the story that interwinds with the season's main stories. During the teaser, I was also confused at why Ben said it was done twice and why Joe asked Josh how he was doing, when it had just been Joe who had been in the traumatic event. I also felt really frustrated over Joe not trusting Joanna with all the truth, after she came clean to him with so much. Lastly, while I found Joanna's scene in the doctor's to be amusing, I felt that the reality that it all means she can't have a baby because of the drinking was sort of undermined by the humour, so I didn’t feel the tragedy so much. Best Butler – I enjoyed Rena and Joe's characters and stories the most this episode, but I'll give the edge to Joe. Overall, I really like where both these characters appear to be heading this season. I'm still interested by Josh's story this season, and his particular story this episode was fine. I hope Ben takes a bit more centre-stage in his story next time. Overall – Great episode. I know had a few things to complain about, but there were mostly trivial, and I did overall enjoy all the stories and thought the last scene particularly was just excellent. Excited to see where it all goes. 8.8/10